Captain Marvel
History Captain Marvel was the World's Mightiest Mortal. Originally, he was an orphaned boy named Billy Batson, who was chosen by the wizard Shazam to be a champion of good. Shazam gifted Batson with the power of six legendary Greek figures, and when he spoke the Wizard's name, he became an adult-aged superhero empowered by six legendary Greek figures. Later, Marvel would gain the ability to share his power with Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., creating the Marvel Family. Today, Marvel remains as one of the world's greatest heroes. The Power of Shazam Batson's parents - archaeologists C. C. and Marylin Batson - were killed by their treacherous assistant, Theo Adam, while on a dig at the tomb of Rameses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt. Theo Adam, the resurrected non-powered form of Teth-Adam aka Black Adam, kidnaps Batson's sister Mary, who ends up missing. The wizard Shazam was made aware of all of those events and had Batson brought before him by the dark-clothed stranger, granting the boy the power to become Captain Marvel. As Marvel, Batson toke on the form of his late father, which was how Theo Adam guessed his identity. He had a revelation about the power of Shazam and becomes Black Adam using a stolen scarab from the tomb. After subduing Black Adam and his employer, the rich tycoon Doctor Sivana, Batson swore to find his sister as Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel became a member of the revived Justice Society of America and was featured prominently in that group alongside his nemesis Black Adam. Captain Marvel originally joined the team to keep an eye on Adam, who had joined the JSA claiming to have reformed. Black Adam eventually left the JSA to instigate a takeover of his home country of Kahndaq; he had a fondness for the country, and wished to see the totalitarian regime done away with, in what he saw as justice. Marvel remained with the team. JSA During his tenure in the JSA, Captain Marvel dated Courtney Whitmore, which put him in an unusual position; while he could legally date Courtney as Billy Batson, it looked very strange for the grown-up Captain Marvel to be with the teenaged Stargirl. The Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, another JSA member, confronted Marvel about the issue. Rather than telling Garrick and the team the truth about his age, Marvel chose to follow the Wisdom of Solomon and leave the team and Courtney. The Marvel Family played an integral part the Infinite Crisis. The climax of the Day of Vengeance saw the Spectre engaged in a cosmic-level battle with the wizard Shazam. At the conclusion of this battle, Shazam was obliterated, and the Rock of Eternity burst apart into Earth's dimension, freeing scores of ancient magicks and evils that had been captured eons ago back into the Universe. Day of Vegeance In the aftermath of the Day of Vengeance, Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family then helped Zatanna and several other beings to capture the Seven Deadly Sins and rebuild the Rock of Eternity. Batson was required to take over Shazam's role as caretaker of the Rock. He was later shown fulfilling this role, although he teetered on the brink of insanity, constantly talking back to the Seven Sins around him. During this time, Batson was shown helping Black Adam grant Adrianna Tomaz the powers of the goddess Isis. Later that year, Batson presided at the marriage ceremony of Adam and Isis in Kahndaq. 52 and World War 3 Black Adam's continued attempts to reform, and depicted Adam's formation of, with Captain Marvel's blessing, a “Black Marvel Family”. Joining Black Adam in the Black Marvel Family were his wife Isis and her brother Osiris. Isis and Osiris are murdered by the "Four Horsemen", creatures engineered by a team of DC's mad scientist characters (Doctor Sivana among them). As a result, Black Adam takes his revenge out on the entire world, killing millions. Black Adam is halted for a few minutes, just the time needed for Captain Marvel to force a magic lightning bolt on him, turning Black Adam back to Teth-Adam and changing his magic word into an unknown one. The Trials of Shazam! and Final Crisis With Shazam dead, the Rock of Eternity chose Captain Marvel as its new caretaker. Batson received a new white suit and his hair became long and white, and assumed the name Marvel. Form Trials of Shazam! featured Captain Marvel, now with a white costume and long white hair, taking over the role of the wizard Shazam under the name Marvel, while Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel lose their powers. A powerless Freddy Freeman was then drafted to prove himself worthy to the individual six gods evident in the "Shazam" acronym so that he can become their new champion and herald under the name Shazam, although a witch Sabina De La Croix from the Council of Merlin attempted to take the power herself, as ordered by her father Merlin. Atlas was killed by Sabina, but Apollo's healing replaced him. Baston helped Freddy when he was trapped by the weight that Atlas bore. Later, Apollo toke Atlas's place in holding the world, while Batson returned to the Rock of Eternity and Freddy continued his trials. The battle between Freddy and Sabina ended when Freddy was chosen to wield the gods's power and becomes Shazam, while Sabina was destroyed. As the new Shazam, Freddy takes Batson's former duties as a superhero. Justice Society of America Batson was ambushed by Black Adam and Isis, who were intent on taking over the Rock of Eternity. Isis robbed Marvel of his powers by saying Shazam from a spell book to send lightning at him, banishing a powerless Billy Batson back to Fawcett City, where he contacted the Justice Society for help. Upon arriving at the Rock of Eternity with Batson, the Justice Society fought Black Adam and Isis. Batson was abducted by the then evil Mary Marvel, who shares her powers with him and turned him into an evil teenage Captain Marvel. The evil Billy and Mary join Adam and Isis in fighting the Justice Society. However, Adam switches sides when Isis sets into action her plan to kill off humanity and destroy modern civilization. With the help of the Justice Society's Flash and the spirit of C.C Batson (Mary and Billy's father), the dead wizard Shazam's soul was retrieved from an underworld realm known as the Rock of Finality, and Adam gives up his powers to resurrect him from the statue he was imprisoned in. Shazam promptly takes his powers back from the other three Black Marvels, turns Adam and Isis into stone statues, and banishes Batson and Mary from the Rock of Eternity upon stating that they have failed him. He threatens to come after Freddy Freeman, as his powers come directly from the Gods. They were later seen walking the streets of Fawcett City while homeless and pondering the fate of their father's spirit. Blackest Night During Blackest Night, they were living in an apartment and commented on how scary it was not to have their powers anymore. Shazam One-Shot Freddy was seen with Billy and Mary in their apartment. They reminisce about the past and how Mary feels useless without her powers. Mary was later seen assaulting Freddy, Blaze appears. The scene cuts to a homeless shelter. Blaze was seen talking to Mary. She told Mary that if she kills Freddy, she will restore Billy and Mary's powers. It cuts back. Blaze was seen breaking her promise to Mary. Seconds later the word 'Shazam' was heard, sending Blaze rocketing through the wall. It turns out Freddy was in on it too, only pretending to get killed. Blaze and Freddy fight in the streets. Blaze punched Freddy with a ring containing liquid from the river of the Styx, which is toxic to everyone besides the residents of Hell. Billy was seen telling Mary to distract Blaze while he helps Freddy wash off the toxic water. Freddy then follows by "killing" Blaze and sending her back to Hell. Later on, Freddy tells Billy and Mary that no matter what, he will find a way to restore their powers! DCnU Flash's changes to reality created a new world where Billy's life had significantly changed. In this new world, his superhero identity was called Shazam, not Captain Marvel. Batson also had undergone a personality change: while he was still essentially a good boy, he was distrustful of people and wanted to become an adult as fast as possible so that he could take care of himself and not worry about anybody else. Batson lived in an orphanage on Philadelphia and was interviewed by a couple of parents, the Vasquezes, so that he could be adopted and attend school. He behaved properly towards the Vasquezes, who decided to adopt him. As soon as they left, however, Billy expressed indifference towards them. Later, Billy sees an emergency on the city and transforms into Shazam. After being adopted he moves to the Vasquezes home where he meets the rest of their family, who are also adopted. It was immediately apparent that Billy did not fit in with the rest and he soon broke into a fight with the others, storming off into his room. Power Of Shazam *Accelerated Healing - Granted by Atlas, Shu, Apollo and Marsosh. Chosen ones have incredible amounts of durability and invulnerability however if for some reason they are harmed their unique physiology allows their physical wounds to heal and at accelerated rate. They can survive incredible amounts of damage to their bodies given enough time. *Clairvoyance - Granted by Solomon, Zehuti, Minerva and Lumiun. Chosen ones are clairvoyant to all situations. They can understand situations from many angles including futuristic and past consequences to actions. Also understood as superhuman awareness with such clarity that chosen ones can see into the future of their actions. *Divine Empowerment- All of the powers given to the chosen ones are given through Shazam and come directly from Gods. These gods include Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zues, Achilles, Mercury, Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, Mehen, Menthu, Selena, Hippolyta, Ariadne, Zephyrus, Aurora, Minerva, Marsosh, Arel, Ribalvei, Voldar, Elbiam, Lumiun and Apollo. Some chosen ones are given their powers directly from the gods and chose not to go through Shazam. *Divine Grace - Granted by Achilles, Mehen, Menthu, Selena and Elbiam. Chosen ones have innate luck and divine guidance in a largely unseen way. Mostly a psychological ability, they are the chosen of the gods and therefore are in the gods' favor. Their grace allows for seeming finesse in their actions and situations. *Eidetic Memory- Granted by Solomon, Zehuti, Minerva and Lumiun. Chosen ones have photographic memory. They can remember each piece of information they learn while in their superhuman forms. With this they can study situations and reevaluate them as required. This power is used in conjunction with their clairvoyance. *Energy Projection - Granted by Zeus, Aton and Ribalvei. Chosen ones can project their transforming lightning bolts as offensive weapons. An often unconventional weapon, chosen ones have been seen striking others including other chosen ones with their called upon lightning bolts. *Energy Resistance - Granted by Zeus, Aton and Ribalvei. Chosen one's physical forms have increased resistance to all magical based attacks and can take such attacks full on without sustained damage, such as; being hit with spells from magical opponents or even the magical lightning of other chosen ones. *Enhanced Intellect - Granted by Solomon, Zehuti, Minerva and Lumiun. Chosen ones are given superhuman brain activity and are provided by counsel and guidance when needed. They are also granted knowledge of all languages, warfare, mathematics, and other scholarly knowledge. *Flight - Granted by Mercury, Heru, Zephyrus and Arel. Chosen ones can soar into the skies through an act of sheer will. They can hover completely still or effortlessly achieve sub-orbital levels and travel across the planet in blinding speed. *Healing - Granted by Zeus, Aton, Apollo and Ribalvei Chosen ones can heal themselves or others with their magical lightning. Chosen ones can use their lightning to save victims instead of injuring them at their own will and if they take heavy damage they can call the lightning to heal themselves as well. *Hypnosis - Granted by Solomon, Zehuti, Minerva and Lumiun. Chosen ones can hypnotize anyone who looks directly at them. Hardly used by today's chosen ones this ability can be understood as a chosen one's ability to manipulate their opponents or allies for various purposes. *Indomitable Will - Granted by Achilles, Mehen, Menthu Selena and Elbiam. Chosen ones have incredible amounts of willpower which they utilize on an almost daily usage. A psychological power, their willpower allows them to fight on despite overwhelming odds and seemingly unbeatable situations. In most cases their willpower is in excess to their innate nature of good will, however that is not always true and their will can be bent to more destructive means. * Invulnerability - Granted by Achilles, Mehen, Menthu Selena and Elbiam. Chosen ones have incredible amounts of durability, so much so that they are considered largely invulnerable to most if not all forms of physical damage. That isn't to say that they cannot be harmed but it would require one as powerful as them to hurt them physically. Sometimes called the Courage of the Gods, it is also mostly a psychological ability allowing the chosen ones access to large amounts of willpower and grace. * Magic - Granted by Zeus, Aton and Ribalvei. Chosen ones have incredible amounts of magic. Specifically, their entire superhuman makeup is one large magical spell. Sometimes called the Power of the Gods, most chosen ones choose to use their magic through lightning bolts, transformations, resistances, enhancements, and other spells. *Multilingualism- Granted by Solomon, Zehuti, Minerva and Lumiun. Chosen ones are omnilingual and can read, write, speak and understand all languages. With this they can communicate to even aliens and other lifeforms. *Self-Sustenance - Granted by Atlas, Shu, Apollo and Marsosh. Chosen ones can survive extended and even indefinite periods of time without sleep, food, water, or air. They can even survive harsh conditions such as deserts or tundras without harm. Furthermore they can survive the void of space or gaseous zones of other planets. *Superhuman Reflexes - Granted by Zeus, Aton and Ribalvei. Chosen one's physical forms have increased physical reactions and physical attributes to allow for their feats. As such they react more quickly in fights, make quick mental decisions and increase their height, weight, muscles and mass depending on their transformation. *Superhuman Speed - Granted by Mercury, Heru, Zephyrus and Arel. Chosen ones have incredible amounts of speed which allow them to move, react, and easily move at speeds far exceeding Mach 10 within Earth's atmosphere. It is possible that other uses of their speed aside from running and flying. *Superhuman Stamina - Granted by Atlas, Shu, Apollo and Marsosh. Chosen ones have incredible stamina and endurance. They seem to be able to fight on forever and some many even survive without sustenance. If they were ever harmed their limitless metabolism would surely heal their damage. *Superhuman Strength - Granted by Hurcules, Amon, Hippolyta and Voldar. Chosen ones have incredible physical strength, enough to lift at least 100 tons. They can effortlessly bend steel, punch through walls, and lift massive objects. They've also been seen able to crack the crust of planets, physically hold off multiple heroes and tear humans apart. *Teleportation - Granted by Zeus, Aton and Ribalvei]]. Chosen ones can teleport to locations such as the Rock of Eternity with but a thought and an action. They can only teleport to this place and only from it, they cannot teleport elsewhere or at will to other locations. *Transformation - Granted by Zeus, Aton and Ribalvei. Chosen ones almost always transform into their godlike forms from their human personas. In certain situations they don't have physical changes such as aging or sustaining an age and this can lead to theoretic immortality but once they revert to their original forms they take on whatever ailments they had sustained (such as an injured leg, aging thousands of years or having a broken arm). **Keeper of the Rock of Eternity: Batson formerly had been advanced to the position of the Wizard Shazam after the Wizard Shazam's spirit had been been dispersed by the Spectre. As the new Guardian of the Rock of Eternity, Billy possessed even more power then he had as "Captain Marvel." All of Batson's original magical powers as "Captain Marvel" had been increased way beyond previous levels. As the Guardian of the Rock of Eternity, Batson was one with the Rock as it is a part of him. Batson was able to channel the energies of the primal God-wave and the Greek Lords of Magic through the Rock of Eternity. In that state Marvel was infused with the duty to keep the power and the magic of the earth realm in balance. As keeper of the Rock of Eternity Marvel also held the dark forces at bay. ***Inherent Omnipresence: Apparently possessing the power to be everywhere, at all times (i.e. multiple dimensions and places in time). ***Inherent Omniscience: Apparently possessing the power to know anything that he chooses to know and can be known. *** Inherent Omnipotence: Apparently possessing the vast magical powers, and ability to make anything he wants. *** Telepathy: Ability to read the minds of others and project thoughts. *** Sorcery: As the High Lord of Magic, Marvel has omnipotent mastery of magics and mysticism. He truly knows magic and can cast any spell to achieve any powerful results. He has unlimited access to Personal, Universal and Dimensional Energies. *** Cosmic Awareness: Power to sense the presence of beings and objects in the universe. ***Immortality Abilities *Multilingual: Thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon, he has the ability to understand, comprehend, and speak any language on earth. *Genius-Level Intellect: He also is considered a genius among geniuses. *Smooth Talker: Another facet of his intelligence is ability to talk his way out of situations, as a man with an unprecedented amount of wisdom, he prefers to talk, rather than fight. Strength level Class 100 +. As Captain Marvel his strength is on par with Superman. When he received the upgrade to Lord Marvel and became the keeper of the Rock of Eternity, he was one of the strongest beings in the Universe. Weaknesses/Disadvantages *High Order Magic: Only the strongest of magics can affect him in any particular way, such as those wielded by the Spetre. =Paraphernalia= Equipment *Historama: Shazam owned the Historama that adorns the space near his throne at the Rock of Eternity. It functions as a crystal ball, but with Incredible range and accuracy. He activates the Historama by saying, "Historama show me...". The historama has incredible material strength and provides the following abilities: ***Clairvoyance ***Clairaudience ***Remote Sensing ***Extra-dimensional Detection ***True Sight ***Dimensional Viewing ***Temporal Viewing: ability to look into the past, and functions just like Dimensional Viewing. These powers allow the Historama to "cleave through the barriers" to show the occupants of the Rock of Eternity what transpires in other dimensions and even other times. Batson had forgone the original historama and has opted for a more up to date version and has redirected the Rock of Eternity with a multitude of different tv screens which portrays whatever he chooses, just as the original historama. Notes *Captain Marvel's first appearance was in Whiz Comics #2, published by Fawcett Comics and taking place on Earth-S. His first appearance in the mainstream Dc Universe was in Legends #1. *Hailed as "The World's Mightiest Mortal" in his adventures (and nicknamed "The Big Red Cheese" by arch-villain Doctor Sivana, an epithet adopted by fans as a nickname for their hero), Captain Marvel was (based on sales) the most popular superhero of the 1940s. The Captain Marvel Adventures series sold more copies than Superman's Action Comics and other competing superhero books. Captain Marvel was also the first superhero to be adapted into film in 1941 (The Adventures of Captain Marvel). Fawcett ceased publishing Captain Marvel and Marvel Family comics in 1953. This was due to both a general decline in the popularity of superheroes and a copyright infringement suit from DC Comics alleging similarities between Captain Marvel and Superman. DC licensed the Marvel Family characters in 1972 and acquired all rights in 1980. Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family have been integrated into the DC Universe, and DC has attempted a few revivals. Captain Marvel has not regained widespread appeal with new generations, although a 1970s Shazam! live action television series featuring the character was very popular. *Due to the fact that Marvel Comics trademarked their Captain Marvel comic book during the interim between the original Captain Marvel's Fawcett years and DC years, DC Comics is unable to promote and market their Captain Marvel/Marvel Family properties under that name. They decided to use the word "Shazam" as the title of their comic book and thus the name under which they would market and promote the character. As a result, Captain Marvel himself is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Shazam." *In the Flashpoint altered timeline, Billy was the bearer of the courage of Achilles. Trivia *Captain Marvel's adventures have contributed a number of elements to both comic book culture and pop culture in general. The most notable of these is the regular use of Superman and Captain Marvel as adversaries in Modern Age comic book stories. The Superman/Captain Marvel rivalry has its origins in a popular comics story in MAD Magazine no. 4 from 1953, entitled "Superduperman", which was inspired by the Fawcett/DC legal battles. In the story, Superduperman (an obvious Superman doppelganger) does battle with the Captain Marvel-esque Captain Marbles. Marbles' magic word was not "SHAZAM", but "SHAZOOM", which stood for Strength, Health, Aptitude, Zeal, Ox—power of, Ox—power of another, and Money. After DC revived Captain Marvel in the 1970s, they followed MAD's cue and often pitted Captain Marvel and Superman against each other for any number of reasons, but usually as an inside joke to the characters' long battles in court; they are otherwise staunch allies who get along very well with each other. Notable Superman/Captain Marvel battles in DC Comics stores include All-New Collectors’ Edition #C-58 (1979), All-Star Squadron #37 (1984), Superman #102(1995), the final issue of the Kingdom Come miniseries (1996), and in Superman #216 (2005). The "Clash" episode of Justice League Unlimited, which included Captain Marvel as a guest character, featured a Superman/Captain Marvel fight as its centerpiece. *17 months after DC's first issue of Shazam!, a try-out of the first meeting of Captain Marvel and Superman was published in Superman #276, with a character called Captain Thunder. Captain Marvel and Superman would finally meet 18 months later in the December 1976 issue of Justice League of America #137. *Captain Marvel was the first major comic book hero to have a young alter ego. Although kid superheroes had generally been neglected before Marvel's introduction, kid sidekicks soon became commonplace shortly after Marvel's success: Robin was paired with Batman in May 1940, and Captain America was introduced with sidekick Bucky in March 1941. The idea of a young boy who transformed into a superhero proved popular enough to inspire a number of superheroes who undergo similar transformations, including Marvel Comics' Darkhawk, Malibu Comics' Prime, and animated/action figure superheroes such as Hanna-Barbera's Mighty Mightor and Young Samson, Mattel/Filmation's He-Man, and Warner Bros. Television's Freakazoid. Other heroes, including Marvel Comics' Thor, undergo similarly magical transformations from a weak human form to a god-empowered form. *In pop culture, Billy Batson/Captain Marvel's magic word, "Shazam!", became a popular exclamation from the 1940s on, often used in place of an expletive. The most notable user of the word "Shazam!" in this form was Gomer Pyle from the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Elvis Presley was a fan of Captain Marvel, Jr. comic books as a child. Elvis later styled his hair to look like Freddy Freeman's and based his stage jumpsuits and TCB lightning logo on Captain Marvel Jr.'s costume and lightning-bolt insignia. Actor Cary Grant said that some of his younger fans told him they thought he bore an uncanny resemblance to Captain Marvel. *Even more than ten years after the character first disappeared, the superhero was still used for jokes, such as in The Monkees when Peter Tork tried to escape the ropes he was tied up in by yelling "Shazam!", only to magically break a mirror and sheepishly note that it's seven years bad luck for Captain Marvel. Several other episodes of The Monkees had Captain Marvel references, including using the name "Freddy Freeman" in dialogue. Captain Marvel also made a cameo in The Beatles song "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill." Another catchphrase popularized by Captain Marvel was his trademark exclamation, "Holy Moley!" *In the Fox Network animated series American Dad!, Steve's favorite t-shirt has Captain Marvel's signature lightning bolt insignia on it which he refers to as a "Shazam" shirt. Additionally, Captain Marvel made a cameo appearance in an episode of ABC Network's The Drew Carey Show as part of a dream sequence.